So I did something stupid today and bought some Simpoints. I think ever since I got Ambitions last month I've been bummed out that because I pre-ordered it I never got the Bonus Points!

Anyways, what are you favorite items from the Store? I want to spend my 1,000 points of hard earned working cash well. If you want to recommend some hairs, please post a pic! I find those incredibly to discern just from the pictures in the store (they're horrible).

I'll start... the item I use most from the store is the Panda Baby Room, with the crib and all the cute animal items I also like the freebie JC Penney clothes they released once.

I couldn't agree more about the difficulty assessing CAS items in the store (hair AND clothes) based on the pics they provide. Seriously, everything on MTS is free to download, yet the site require creators to take front & back in-game pics. How does EA hope to lure me with their one wacky profile headshot that cuts off longer hair and shows neither the front nor the back?

I will someday use my registration points on the Steampunk set with the guitar and telescope...when it shows up in a < $1 sale.

Yes, and what's up with white objects pictured on white backgrounds? Was looking through the new wedding stuff and there were a few things I could barely see. Anyway, I'd love to see set with just household clutter. Or one with foods.

I don't generally buy sets -- I buy one or two pieces. The one full set I did buy, and the stuff I use the most is "Bayside", which kinda fits my actual style in RL. Also got the Bauhaus build set with my "free points".

The 2 store hairs I like most are "Dramatic ponytail" and "High ponytail" -- both look good in-game -- I like the "Shuffle" too. There's a half-way good new guy hair too, I think it is called "surfs up" (or something dumb like that).

I just saw the new "Zen Again" bath/spa set and I like that one a lot ... wish it had a hot tub tho'

Totally agree on how hard it is to tell if something will look good in-game, esp. the hair ... really bad "thumbnails" are not helpful.

It hate the freaking store and personally I think they are taking us all for a bunch of idiots. To me EA is as greedy as the oil companies..look at the Ambitions they couldn't even bother to give us free sims points. Honestly someone should file a class action suit against EA and get them stopped. I have looked on the web and as far as I can tell Germany got nice stuff for free when each of the expansions came out that was not offered here in the US. Remember TS3 was suppose to release in February 2009 but instead mysteriously with a very vague excuse they waited and released it in June 2009. Rumor has it that they took that time to strip the entire game and force us to pay for the Sims store items which cost about approx. $2.00 USD for each item. Last time I added that cost is far more then $19.00-$20.00 for stuff packs. If people continue to waste their money purchaseing from the Sims store this will continue to allow EA to rip us off and get away with it. In another sense it is like going to the grocery store you buy one apple for $.50 but decide before you leave the store you need a second apple well now just for that second apple it is going to cost you $2.00. No person in their right mind would pay $2.00 for that second apple. But yet each time we pay for something on that store that is exactly what we are doing, and what makes it worse, in this economy, EA knows exactly what it is doing.

I liked the Pier 1-ey furniture and build items in the recent beach house set, whatever it was called -- Island Villa?

But mostly I spend my free points on categories where there's currently very little or no choice -- especially skilling items like the telescope and guitar that Mangaroo mentioned, or the easel from the Hewnsman set. Rather than sofas, of which there are a zillion.

I would love to have shop items. It was nice giving us the cupcakes and chocolate fountain with the wedding set, so I can now make it look a bakery (when mods are used of course). I like items that can be used for other purposed than what they are intended. I would love the island with the exposed boxes inside them, whether it be store or EP/SP. Let's be honest, we can FINALLY open up shops, but we have no items to really make them feel like shops. Ambitions help, but it not good enough. The 50's set is good for restaurants, but it needs more stuff (like the rest of the set form the Sims 2).

It hate the freaking store and personally I think they are taking us all for a bunch of idiots. To me EA is as greedy as the oil companies..look at the Ambitions they couldn't even bother to give us free sims points.

Darling, they never gave us free points. TS3 base game and WA were about 10€ more expensive than what previous games have been, because it came with 10€ worth of free points. Thankfully Ambition came without it so I didn't have to pay for something that doesn't even work in my game.

I actually like EA stuff, because I like basic and old fashioned furniture. I used up my "free" points and brought some stuff with them, but ended up deleting them because they stopped showing up in my game and they slowed down the game to the point that it was not playable. I don't how ever like their hairs, it's just beyond ugly and I have a really hard time understanding how most of them have been approved to be in game.

Whatever you do, if you do buy stuff from the store, do NOT buy any more sims points than you need. I had my account hacked into, and the theif spent all of my excess points. EA has yet to restore them after several requests (and quite frankly, it costs them nothing to do so). Their site is not all that secure and they do not protect their customers.

Second, you really cannot modify many of the store items. Even if you can find a way to even open the packages, the store stuff is hard to mod. I have found that the clothing, for example, only has one morph. So if you want to modify the mesh, you have to make your own fat, thin, fit and special morphs. If your goal is to use store items for modding -- forget it. By the way, the same is true for items from the Favored Artists at TSR -- their items do not open in S3Pe, Postal or even the TSR Workshop -- meaning that they cannot be changed -- not even the clothing categories. Just keep in mind that when you purchase items, you cannot change them. You purchase them "as is" and cannot edit them or modify them with ease. This is one of the really negative consequences of SELLING Siims custom content -- it stifles other creators and modders.

Darling, they never gave us free points. TS3 base game and WA were about 10€ more expensive than what previous games have been, because it came with 10€ worth of free points. Thankfully Ambition came without it so I didn't have to pay for something that doesn't even work in my game.

I would never waste Sim Points on the clothing, accessories and hair - all the cc versions are far superior, but I admit I am a sucker for the misc decor items (except from the stupidly over sized ones) and some of the build mode items, although the build mode creators here at MTS are starting to catch up and overtake in that area